INTRO
Allow me to start our time by reading you a nifty story. It is called, “The First Radio Broadcast.” For their entire careers, wireless operators onboard US Navy and merchant ships had only heard Morse code coming through their headphones. However, a few days before Christmas in 1906, operators from the shore informed the ships’ crews to listen at 9 PM on Christmas Eve for something special.
With curiosity, the ships’ operators —affectionately known as “sparks” — tuned in as was suggested. Suddenly, they heard something that made them think they were dreaming. They heard singing, and a violin solo; then a man speaking. Some called their captain and ship's officers to come and listen along with them.
The genius responsible was Reginald Fessenden. He had succeeded in transmitting voice and music over the air. Fessenden played a violin solo of "O Holy Night" as he sang the last verse. He also read about the birth of Jesus from Luke chapter 2. Luke’s account of the angels' song "Glory to God in the Highest - and on Earth - Peace to Men of Goodwill” was heard as if by miracle. Fessenden concluded his broadcast by wishing all a Merry Christmas.
Isn’t it amazing that the first-ever, radio broadcast was one that proclaimed that Jesus Christ is Lord? I wonder, did anything spark in the hearts of the “sparks” as they heard the good news of the Gospel.
This morning, I pray this message sparks something in your heart, so that you too can be inspired to broadcast your faith, so others can hear the good news of Jesus Christ. So with that, let’s jump into the book of Romans and hear why it’s so crucial to transmit the good news of the Gospel for those whose ears might be tuning in. Please open your bibles to Romans 10.
RIGHTEOUSSNESS IN CHRIST
Now, before we move into the heart of our message, let’s focus on what Paul was saying to the church in Rome about Israel’s heart, because it serves as the foundation not only for what comes next, but also for the reasons that Martin Luther sought to reform the Roman Catholic church. Let’s begin by hearing vv 1-7. READ VV 1-7.
Okay, from vv 3-6, Paul contrasts the righteousness Israel sought through works, to the righteousness of Jesus. Now, within these 3 verses, Paul used the word “righteousness” five times, and the word “law” twice. Paul said that Israel “chose not to submit to God’s righteousness, but instead sought to establish their own.”
He argues that we cannot be made righteous through our efforts, because no matter how much we try, we’re all going to break both God’s laws and those enacted by humankind. Let’s put a contemporary spin on this to see what I mean.
The State of Idaho set a maximum speed limit on our portion of I-90 at 75 MPH. But how often do we suppose people obey that law? I’ll be honest, I try to drive at 75 mph, because I think it’s fast enough, but I don’t always do it. Consider this as well.
Between the Rose Lake exit and the Fourth of July Pass —heading west — the speed limit slows down to 65 MPH. Now, if we obey the law (of Idaho), we’d all slow down prior to the speed limit sign. However, most people (including me) —if they slow down at all —only do so after they’ve passed the sign. Technically, however, if we haven’t slowed-down to 65 mph by the time we’ve crossed the threshold of that sign, then we’re already in violation of law —and that’s just an ordinance created by human beings.
While we might think is no big deal, it is still the law — and for good reasons? Just the other day I went outside the office, and a person in white SUV flew down Mullan — a 25 mph speed zone — at about 45 mph. Thank goodness none of the neighborhood kids were outside in the streets playing, as they often do. It could have been ugly. The law is there for a reason: to keep everyone safe.
Still, that all being said, the vast-majority of people don’t’ obey the speed limit statues that our government established, which should be easy to follow. If that’s all true, then how do we think we can abide by the laws that God established? That’s kind of what Paul’s was saying, in a really technical kind of way.
It’s like the Apostle Paul was saying, “Israel didn’t want to abide within the laws that God established, so they created their own; however, they couldn’t even keep those.” Much is the same for us — Christians I mean. Most Christians in our nation today don’t want to abide by even the Ten Commandments, let alone those Jesus commanded us to obey, those such as “loving God and one another” and to go forth and “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything [he commanded us].”
It’s pretty hard for us to teach others to obey Jesus, when we ourselves often break his statutes. Then, on top of that, we don’t like to abide by the ones enacted by our local, state, and federal legislatures either— even though Peter tells us to do so in Chapter two, VV 13-17, of his first letter.
Okay, so what’s the point. Here it is. No matter how hard we try, we’re cannot live up to the expectations of the law, and therefore we cannot be righteous, in our own right, by being “do-gooders” who follow the letter of the law. I mean, the Apostle Paul himself tried — as a Pharisee of Pharisees —but even he couldn’t do it. If he couldn’t do it; then I’d argue we can’t either.
For all these reasons, God sent Jesus to fulfill the law — I’d argue both God’s laws and humanities self-created laws —as the perfect, living-embodiment of God’s righteousness. Jesus lived a perfect, righteous life, and then on top of all that, he exchanged his righteousness for ours by dying on the cross for our sins.
Okay, from this point in his letter, Paul turns his thoughts from all this, by asking a rhetorical question in verse eight. He wrote “But what does it say?” — the “it” being a reference to Deuteronomy 30:14 —which Paul writes-out in the rest of verse. Paul’s question, and immediate answer, leads us into the heart of our message this morning. Let’s read the whole of Paul’s thought, VV. 8-11. READ VV 8-11.
C.B.S - CONFESSION, BELIEVING AND SALVATION
Paul makes his declaration in v.9, and repeats it by reversing the language in v.10. That declaration is one that resounds of a broadcast going out over the airwaves. There’s three important words in both of these verses; those are Confess, Believe, and Saved —C.B.S. As a side not, when I read these verses over-and-again, the acronym for the Columbia Broadcasting System popped in my mind. I thought, despite their current ideology, the company’s mission is to broadcast whatever they see fit through the nation’s airwaves for all to see and hear.
Much like CBS could, or better stated as Reginald Fessenden did in 1906, when we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that only through Jesus Christ can we be saved from our unrighteousness, well then we’re, in effect, broadcasting the message of our faith for many to hear. We might not be mic’d into some kind of recording or amplification system —as I am right now — and our voices might not go out electronically through the airwaves, but the affect is still the same. Our voices are like radio transmitters that send messages across the air for others to hear.
See, when we speak, our lungs, diaphragm, vocal cords, mouth, teeth and tongue —as one, God-designed instrument — produce waveforms, which travel through the air as radio frequencies. Our mouths produce the same sounds as do radios, televisions, computers, and the like —the only difference merely being the tool in which the sound is created, and the frequencies in which the sounds travel. The real miracle isn’t just in you and me sharing our faith stories, it also comes in the hearing of the messages we broadcast.
FAITH COMES FROM HEARING
That’s why Paul reiterates the notion that God wants us to use our voices — as divinely created, radio instruments — to broadcast the good news for all to hear. Here’s why, let’s look down to VV 14-18. READ VV 14-18.
Again, Paul asks a bunch of rhetorical questions to get us to think. He knows we already know the answer -- but he wants us to think about the answer. See, like the early church, we’re probably not a lot different, we like to come up with every excuse under the sun why it’s someone else’s responsibility to broadcast our faith. And while the Holy Spirit does gift some with the specific spiritual-gift of evangelism and preaching, God still expects all believers to share our faith stories with others who’ve never heard the gospel — or maybe those who just need to hear it again. When we share our faith stories, our faith increases, and so does the faith of the hearer.
Again, in answering his own questions, Paul quotes the Prophet Isaiah when he said, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Isaiah 52:70.) What both Isaiah and Paul are saying is this, “Your faith story is beautiful, and when you share that wonderful story, God see’s your inner beauty.”
Through his questions and answer, Paul was telling the Roman church that if you don’t share your faith, then others may not find salvation in Christ Jesus. Paul is saying here to us as well: “You have already confessed, believed, and are now saved. Now be like a CBS transmitter, share your faith so others can hear in their hearts and believe the good news that Christ died for our sins and rose from the grave.
Now, we know that not everybody who we share our faith with will confess their sins, believe in their hearts, and find salvation in Christ Jesus. Still, our job isn’t to convert them, only to share the precious gift we’ve been given. The Holy Spirit’s got the tough job of changing hearts — we just need to share what’s on ours? And you know what, I think that’s an awesome privilege.
ENDING STORY
Allow me to end our time a bit differently this morning with another story. This one’s called, “The Message of the King.”
The year was 1930, and it was the year of the Naval Conference in London. King George was to address the opening session. Radio was in its infancy, but through this media the king’s message was to be carried around the world. However, just before the king was to go on the air, a young engineer working for the Columbia Broadcasting Station, —ironically — discovered a broken wire in the transmitter.
There was no time for repairs; the world was waiting to hear the message of the king. The young engineer thought of a quick solution: he took a piece of broken wire in one hand, and a piece of broken wire in the other hand, and for fifteen minutes, he took 250 volts of electricity through his body so that the king’s broadcast could be heard.
Like then, the world is waiting to hear the message of the King, and the one way for that message to go through is if we —who profess to be His disciples — will be a conduit —will be a radio transmitter — that broadcasts the message of the king. My question to you this morning is this: Will you allow the King’s message of faith to be broadcast through you?
